State 'risks legal claims' over voting register

The State faces the risk of compensation claims because of errors in the electoral register, a Labour TD claimed today.

Labour Party's Eamon Gilmore warned that a failure to vindicate the Constitutional right to vote "can be compensated for by an award of damages".

Mr Gilmore's comments follow a survey undertaken by a Fianna Fáil cumann that suggested that up to 44 per cent of Dubliners may lose out on their right to vote because they are not properly registered.

The survey carried out in the Dublin South East constituency by the Trinity College cumann of Fianna Fáil suggested that some 17,000 people entitled to vote are not on the register, while a further 15,000 people who have moved or have died remain registered.

Mr Gilmore said local authorities are required by law to compile the register but that they "have failed to do so for years". He said that this "breach of duty" by the authorities could well give rise to a staggering number of compensation claims in the courts.

Fine Gael's Joe McHugh said that there are an estimated 800,000 names on the electoral register that are duplicated, deceased, or not entitled to vote.

"The one person one vote mantra underpins our democratic system and it is imperative it is protected at all costs," he added.

Minister for the Environment Dick Roche has vowed to introduce measures to improve the quality of the electoral register, including better online facilities, an early start to the register campaign and a strengthening of controls at polling stations.